Cleaning and grading apparatus.



No. 339,925. PATENTED JAN. i; 1907.

J. GAYNOR.

CLEANING AND GRADING APPARATUS. APPLIUATION FILED mums, 1906.

3 SHEETB-SHEBT 1.

J. GAYNOR.

CLEANING AND GRADING APPARATUS. APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 26, 1906.

3 SHEETS-SHBET 2.

Q- Q QQ a 92mm; A A. WPJM s I f PATENTED JAN. 1, 1907.

J. GAYNOR. CLEANING AND GRADING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED IEB.26, 1906.

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I detail view of oneof JAMES GAYNOR, OF GRAND RAPIDS, WISCONSIN.

CLEANING AND GRADING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent. I

PatentedJan. 1, 1907.

Application filed February 26. 1906. Serial. No. 302,999.

' To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES GAYNOR, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Grand Rapids, in the county of Woodand State of Wisconsin,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cleaning andGrading Apparatus; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention has for its object to provide a simple and effectiveapparatus for cleaning, grading, and sorting discrete materials, it

being especially applicable to cranberries or the like, said inventionconsisting in certain peculiarities of construction and combination ofparts, as fnllyset forth hereinafter with reference to the accompanying'drawingsland subsequently claimed.

the drawings, Figure 1 represents a transverse section of a cleaning andgrading apparatus embodyingthe features of my invention; Fig. 2, a planview of the same, the delivery andcleaning mechanism be in section upona }plane as indicated by line 2 2 of Fig. 1 with t e feed-apron in full;Fig. 3, a cross-section of said apparatus as indicated by line 3 3 ofFig. 1 and Fig. 4 an enlarged the adjustable gradingbars.

. Referring by letter to the drawings, A indicates a rectangular frame,at the ends of which are mounted in suitable bearings shafts a a. and bI), each shaft being provided with a air of sprockets d, adjacent to thesides of the frame. The sprockets d at either side of said frame arefitted with endless chain' belts f, which are driven, in this instance,by means of a pulley g, fast on the shaft a the dis osition of thesprocketsbeing such that over them form rectangles. The said chain beltsare connected at intervals by a series of lags B, provided with rigidfingers O, which fingers in their travel from front to rear of the frameproject upward and backward at an angle of forty-five degrees betweengradingbars D and serve as agitators and carriers for feeding thematerial to be sorted. Said fingers also prevent clogging of the slots,and by reason 0 their inclination will not mar or bruise said material.In order to prevent sagging of said chain belts while in their wor ingposition, the frame A is rovided with support' strips E at either 'si etherefi d.

of, over whic e aforesaid chains travel, the strips being parallel withsaid travel and 10- D, between which an t e chain belts which travel frcated between the upper set of sprockets a a,

as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings.

The grading-bars D may be of any number and are suspendedin parallelrows from crossgirders F, which girders are adjustably secured to theframe A by bolts and set-nuts 72,1

for the purpose of raising or lowering the said grading-bars withrelation to the points of the fingers C of the carriers, said adjustmentbeing, desirable in order to adapt the apparatus to various kinds ofmaterials or fruitgrading. The parallel grading-bars are preferablyconical in cross-section and spaced apart to form a series offlaredtroughs having slotted bottoms or spaces through which thematerial drops as it is fed longitudinally by the fingers of thecarriers, the width of the slots or spaces between the bars beingregulated by sectional stri s G, adjustably secured to said bars. T esectional strips G, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, are so ad-'justed from end to end of the machine. to

forni two widths of slots the narrowest of which is at the feed end ofthe machine, so that the smaller berries or particles of material to begraded will be separated first, and thereafter a second operation takesplace, it being understood, however, that in ractice any number ofgrades may be ha 'by increasing the number of sectional strips in eachbar. In order to secure the strips G in position, the bottom ofeachgrading-bar is cut away, making a se arable V-shapd rail the bar thestri s G are inserted and held by clamping-bol fs '11, passing throughthe center of said bar and rail, other clamping-bolts 9 being providedwhich extend through the cross-girders F and also serve to hold therails in suspension there- The feed end of the machine has securedthereto a frame H, having a feed-hopper I, under which andabove t egrading-bars is an endless apron J. This apron is fitted overbacking-slats j, secured to drive-chains .k, mounted upon sprockets m mof shafts 'n n, the latter being driven by a. sprocket 0 in linkconnection with a similar sprocket (not shown) carriedby the shaft (1 ofthe carrier drive-chain. Directly in front and below the a ron I islocated a fan K, to the shaft p of w hich is secured a crank g in linkconnection with a bell-crank 1', the latter being fulcrumed ina brackets, fast to the hopper-frame. The free arm of the bellcrank is looselyconnected to a spreaderboard L, which is located directly under the jdischarge end of the apron I and guided in slots t of the hopper-frame.This spreader board by reason of its crank connected with the fan-shaftis vibrated so as to spread the material delivered thereon evenlyprevious to its final delivery to the ader mechanism, into which itfalls after st striking a deflector it below said board.

The fan-shaft p is in belt connection with a pulley 12, fast on thesprocket-shaft n, from which the fan is driven. 1 The discharge-noz zlew of the fan-casingv is so positioned as to force the entire blast ofair from said fan between the spreader-board and deflector u,

thereby causing the berries or material being fed to the grader to bethoroughly cleansed are secured to the frame A below the grading,

of any foreign matter. As the material is sorted into the differentgrades it is delivered in its various sizes to suitable receptacles ateither side of the apparatus by means of oppositely-inclined chutes M,which chutes apparatus, partitions N being provided at I flexible fingerinclined rearward from adirection of their travel. In place of usingsection-strips G for obtaining different widths of space between theading-bars it is obvious that the said strips may in some cases be inone piece and adjusted at angles to each other, so that the spaces wouldtaper instead of having abrupt variations, as shown.

From the fore oing descri tion itis clear that should the opper be ledwith cranberries,for instance, and the machine put in motion the apronwill cause the berries to drop upon the s reader and by it be evenlydistributed, so t at they will uniformly fall to the deflector below,the air-blast in the meantime thoroughly cleansing therefrom all dust,&c., which is blown to the rear. The berries then fall between thegrading rails and are icked up and forced longitudinally throug 1 themachine by the traveling carrier until they reach a section of the stris, the slot between which is of sufficient wi th to permit them to fallthrough upon the .chute and from thence to the separate bins orreceptacles rovided for each grade. With each grade 0 berries afterbeing this sorted and cleaned, there will necessarily be a certainpercentage of soft defective berries, which are of the same size as thesound fruit. These may also be screened or graded from those which aresound by permitting the entire bulk to remain for a time sufficient forthe defective berries to shrink slightly. The berries may then be againscreened, resulting in a separation of those which are shrunken ordefective, and thus dispensing with a great deal of time which wouldotherwise have to be devoted to the pre aration of cranberriesfor themarket.

claim 1. In a grading apparatus, a pluralityof longitudinally-parallelgrading-bars, the said bars being conical in cross-section and com'posed of an upper member having an angledfaced bottom, and a lowermember having a V-shapedface adapted to rest in the anglefacedbottom ofthe first-named member, longitudinal adjustable strips interposedbetween the aforesaid members, whereby the spaces between the bars arevaried, and clamping-bolts arranged to pass through the aforesaidgrading-bar members, whereby the latter, together with the strips areheld in assemblage.

2. In a'grading apparatus, a plurality of longitudinally-parallelgrading-bars, the said bars, being conical in cross-section, andcomposed of an upper member having an angledfaced bottom, and a lowermember having a V-shaped face adapted to rest in the anglefaced bottomof the first-named member, longitudinal adjustable sectional stripsinterposed between the aforesaid members, wherey the spaces between thebars are varied, and clamping-bolts arranged to ass through theaforesaid grading-bar mem ers, whereby the latter, together with thestrips are held in assemblage.

3. A'conical grading-bar com osed of an upper member having an angle-faced bottom, and a lower member having a V-shaped face ada ted to restin the angled-faced bottom of t e first-named member, in combinationwith strips adjustably secured between the said faces of the barmembers, and bolts for clamping said members and strips together.

4. In a grading apparatus, comprising a plurality of parallelgrading-bars, the said ars being formed in upper and lower separatesections and set apart to form series of fixed spaces, adjustable stripsinterposed between the upper and lower sections of the bars, whereby thewidth between said bars is varied, cross-girdersconnecting the aforesaidbars, traveling carriers arranged to project into the spaces between thebars, and

means in connection with the crossgirders for vertical adjustment of thegrading-bars with relation to the carriers.

5. In a grading apparatus, comprising a plurality of parallelgrading-bars, the said ars being formed in upper and lower sepa- 3 ratesections and set apart to form series of fixed spaces, adjustable stripsinterposed between the upper and lower sections of the bars, whereby thewidth between the said bars is varied, cross-girders connecting theaforesaid bars, traveling carriers arranged to project into the spacesbetween the bars, means in connection with the cross-girders forvertical adjustment of the grading-bars with relation to the carriers, afeed-belt located above the grading-bars adjacent to one end thereof,and an air-blast nozzle between the belt and said grading-bars.

6. In a gradin apparatus, comprising a plurality of para lelgrading-bars, the said ars being formed in upper and lower sepa ratesections and set apart to form series of fixed spaces, adjustable stripsinterposed between the upper and lower. sections of the bars, wherebythe width between said bars is varied,v cross-girders connecting theaforesaid bars, traveling carriers arranged to project into the spacesbetween the bars, means in connection with the cross-girders forvertical adjustment of the grading-bars with relation to the carriers,2; feed-belt located above the bars and adjacent to one end there'- of,a hopper above the same, a vibratory spreader at the discharge end ofthe belt, and

7. A gradin ap aratus, comprising'a plurality of ara el ongitudinalgrading-bars, said bars eing made in two pieces one above the'other, adustable sectional strips interposed between the two pieces constitutingthe bars, clamping-bolts for the strips and bars, a pair of endlesstraveling chains below said strips, lags connecting the chains, fin gerscarried by the lags inclined rearward from a direction of their traveland arranged to projectabove the aforesaid strips, and grading-chuteslocated beneath the grading apparatus.

testimony that I claim the foregoing I l have hereunto set my hand, atGrand Rapids, in the county of Wood and State of W1s- 'co'nsin, in thepresence of two witnesses.

JAMES GAYNOR. Witnesses:

JOHN A. GAYNOR, THOMAS MCGOVERN.

